The Changeling (1980)

[Guybrush]

This is a thread for discussing the movie The Changeling which is this week's movie in our film club.

A brief description:

Movie of the week is The Changeling from 1980.



The movie was directed by Peter Medak and stars George C. Scott as a widower who rents an old mansion with a sordid past.

The movie is rightly considered a CLASSIC in the haunted house genre, being both creepy and presenting the viewer with a compelling mystery and fine performances.

I've seen it several times, but admittedly it's been quite a few years since last. I'll give it a rewatch during the week and then provide my thoughts on it here.

.. Though I can let on that it is one of my favorite haunted house movies along with The Innocents from 1961. 🙂

[Janszoon]

I've seen it several times as well so I probably won't rewatch but I agree that it's a good movie.

[DJChameleon]

.. Though I can let on that it is one of my favorite haunted house movies along with The Innocents from 1961. 🙂

Funny that you mentioned The Innocents. I watched that movie two weeks ago for the first time.

[Guybrush]

Funny that you mentioned The Innocents. I watched that movie two weeks ago for the first time.

Cool! Did you like it?

[DJChameleon]

It was a bit of a slow burn. I'd give it a 3/5 though. I wanted to take off my belt and whoop that little boy though he was pissing me off.

[Guybrush]

It was a bit of a slow burn. I'd give it a 3/5 though. I wanted to take off my belt and whoop that little boy though he was pissing me off.

Indeed!

Spoiler for The Innocents

He has to be a bit of a shit for the story to work, of course. For myself, I just think he's been slightly corrupted by Peter Quint and the governess just has an overactive imagination 🙂

[close]

[Guybrush]

So rewatched The Changeling yesterday.

Something that I noticed this time around is Jean Marsh plays his wife. It's a little weird to use an acclaimed actor in such a tiny role with almost no screen time, but maybe she was less acclaimed at the time or flashback scenes with her was cut out.

George C. Scott also seems old compared to his family. I assume he hooked up with a student at some point.

I still think it's, nice, creepy, well made and with strong performances. It's kinda cool how you can make an effective ghost movie with almost no special effects. There's some pyrotechnics and things moving on their own.

The seance scene is my favorite with the line "are you the child killed by the coal cart?" being particularly memorable for some reason 🤔

[DJChameleon]

I watched it today and it was pretty good. I laughed my ass off near the end when she was running away from the haunted wheelchair. Idk why I found that hilarious but I did.

Yeah I oddly found the seance/medium scene to be super creepy. I found myself just talking to the screen like yo leave that little boy's house alone.

There would be no movie if I was in it. If I ever move into a super haunted house. I'm moving like yo ghost my bad I didn't know this was your house. You can keep it and leave. 10 min short film lol.